Stapling devices



June 14, 1960 D. l. LANGFORD STAPLING DEVICES Filed Oct. 30, 1957 I/I/VE/VTOP; Den/s Ivan L 03 ford A rFaz/vs United States Patent STAPLING DEVICES Denis Ivan Langford, 72-74 Victoria St, London SW. 1, England Filed Oct. 30, 1957, Ser. No. 693,337

Claims priority, application Great Britain Dec. 6, 1956 2 Claims. (Cl. 1-3) This invention relates to stapling machines, and particularly to the kind of stapling machine which has a base provided with an anvil, an arm pivotally mounted upon said base, said arm including a staple magazine which incorporates a staple guide and a spring-loaded staple follower and a cover for the staple magazine which carries a blade which is movable upon actuation of the machine to drive a staple through a raceway at the head of the stapling machine.

It is an object of the invention to provide a stapling machine which is simple in construction and action and correspondingly cheap to produce, but which is nevertheless completely satisfactory in use.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a stapling machine in which the arm is readily detachable from the base.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a stapling machine in which the side of the staple magazine is apertured to provide for the loading of staples into the magazine and to provide a visible indication of the number of staples remaining in the magazine. The staples in the magazine are not carried upon a staple guide rail but rest against the bottom and sides of the magazine whilst being urged towards the raceway by means of a spring-urged staple follower. In order to load or reload the magazine, the staple follower is withdrawn towards the end of the magazine remote from the raceway, the staples are inserted into the magazine at the side thereof and the follower released. This construction and the absence of a staple guide rail allows the use of staples of slightly varying sizes in the same machine.

The cover for the magazine may be constructed so that it is not pivotally detachable from the magazine. This considerably simplifies the construction of the machine and eliminates the necessity of the provision of a means of accurately aligning, and a latch to prevent the cover becoming detached from the magazine excepting when is desired.

According to a further aspect of the invention a stapling machine of the kind described is provided in which the arm is readily detachable from the base.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood one embodiment thereof will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a stapling machine according to the invention with the arm separated from the base; and

Figure 2 shows a side view of the machine with the arm secured to the base.

The arm of the stapling machine is made up of an outer cover 1 which is connected by a pivot 2 to a staple carrying magazine 3. The magazine 3 is movable about the pivot 2 relative to the cover 1 to retract at least partly into the interior of the cover 1 in an upward direction, but is restrained from being moved away from the cover by means of projections (not shown) which ICE 2 engage the internal face of the underside 4 of the cover'l about the aperture in which the magazine 3 is housed. At the forward end of the magazine 3, that is the end remote from the pivot, a staple raceway is provided and a blade 18 the cover :1 engages in this raceway, in a manner such that each time the magazine 3 is pivoted towards the cover the blade 18 drives a staple through the raceway in a conventional manner.

An aperture 5 in the side of the magazine 3 serves for the loading of staples after a staple follower 6 in the magazine 3 has been moved towards the pivot 2 against the force of a spring also positioned within the magazine 3. When the follower 6 is released a spring 19 forces it against the staples and causes it to urge the staples in a direction towards the raceway.

Since the staples are not carried upon a guide rail but simply rest within the magazine 3, provided that the follower 6 has a flat leading edge, the magazine 3 may be loaded with staples of any size which will fit within it. The aperture 5 in the side of the magazine 3 is preferably formed so that a curb or edge 7 extends above the floor of the magazine 3 to prevent staples falling out through the aperture 5 and to guide both the staples and the follower 6. The follower 6 may be provided with a projection such as the head 8 of a bolt which will engage the ends of the aperture 5 and thereby limit the movement of the follower.

Where the machine is to be used to staple papers on to a notice board or a packing case, the arm may be used detached from the base. Where it is to be used for the stapling or stitching of papers together, it may be pivotally mounted on a base 10. This may be done by pressing the arm downwardly upon the base against the force of a spring 9 mounted on the base 10 so that the pivot 2 enters a slot 11 in a pair of upstanding lugs 12, the-lugs 12 on the base 10 being located between the cover 1 and the magazine 3 of the arm. The arm may then be moved lengthwise of the base so that, when it is released, the spring 9 causes the pivot 2 to be engaged within the closed ends of slots which are formed as arcuate bearings 13 and 14. When the pivot is engaged within the arcuate bearing formations 13, the staple raceway is aligned with a forward portion 15 of an anvil 16 on the base 10 so that the staples are opened outwardly to form a stitch or easily releasable bond between the papers which it fastens together, whilst when the pivot is brought into the bearings 14, the raceway is aligned with a portion 17 of the anvil 16 which closes the staples upon themselves to form a secure fastening.

The spring 9 may engage the underside of the magazine 3 in a manner which not only serves to retain the pivot within the bearings 13 and 14 but also supports the arm of the machine at a slight angle to the base 10 so that papers may be inserted between the arm and the anvil.

the only addition to this being the spring 9, whilst the arm can be made up of a pressed cover -1 and a pressed magazine 3, the only additional parts required being the pivot 2, the follower 6 and the follower driving spring and blade.

The machine may, if desired, be provided with a base which will not scratch a surface on which it rests and it may be finished in any desired manner or colour.

I claim: a

1. In a stapling machine an arm including a cover, a blade mounted in said cover, a magazine mounted in said cover, said magazine having a raceway therethrough in alignment with said blade, said magazine comprising a channel member having the end adjacent said raceway closed, one of the longitudinal sides of said channel having a eutawap area therein so that staples may be in the upper sides of said channel frictionally engage the 1o inner lower sides of said cover and wherein a sidewardly extending projection is formed on one side of said staple follower-and in registry with said cutaway area in said channel. a

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,059,021 Pankonin w Oct. 27, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS 613,034

Great Britain Nov. 22, 1948 

